Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1887-08-26
AGRICULTURAL.
Devoted to the Interests Of Farmers
and Steokmen.
Keepinx up one SOIL.

Keeping Up the soil.
In paper read before a prominent
agricultural association of Canada, Mr..
Robert Braore of Montreal, says, in the
older and thickly populated countries
of Europe, where the soil had become
barren and sterile from long-continuous
cropping, the attention of The farmers
was directed to the fact by scientists
that something must be done to pre-.
vent the country from becoming bar
rem wilderness like ancient Palestine,
which at one time was exceedingly fer
tile.
The farmers took with the idea, and
on the recommendation of the scien-
lists went into more systematic cul-
tivation of the soil by better tillage,
drainage and rotation OF crops. The
expectations of the farmers were sat
isfied for time, as this system utilized
a large quantity OF plant food that was
lying latent in the soil, but after few
years they were again abruptly aroused
from this mythical dream by the fact
that their land was again becoming ex-
hausted, showing that this better sys-
tenn of tillage did not prevent the de-
pletion of the soil, but only made avail
able the remainder of the plant food
that was lying dormant in the SOIL
The same kind of thing is now on
something Of a boom in this country.
Most of the agricultural papers are
recommending drainage, more thor
ough culture and rotation of crops as
means of keeping up the soil. The
drainage and thorough tillage may be
claesed as a permanent good, but the
rotation of crops cannot be so classed.
1t is simply taking from the soil with
one crop the plant food not needed by
another, and eventually all these ele
ments will have been exhausted, and
then the soil will be poor, indeed. The
rotation creates no new supply of
needed elements, and hence unless
something be added to make up the
loss caused by the crops removed there
can be otherwise than nothing to re.
move sooner or later. A supply can.
not come without source.
This failure to keep up the lands in
Europe on the new plan put the chem
lists to work, and they learned that the
soil must contain certain elements of
plant food to be productive, and since
long cropping had exhausted them
they must be supplied, not by mechan-
ical means, but by direct application.
This theory is still recognized to be
quite correct, with the further theory
that the soil, however fertile, contains
inexhaustible supplies of these essen
tial constituents. With these facts
staring the farmer in the face he had
either to let his land become barren
and sterile, or get supply of these in
gradients, in some shape or other, to
take the place of the waste going on.
A new departure was then adopted
in the shape of mixed farming-that
is, keeping certain number of stock,
principally dairy stock. to utilize ali
the rougher produce Of the farm and
have 1t converted into manure and put
back into the land. This was to be the
great cureall for the prevailing evil,
and, indeed, is now considered by a
large school of our own farmers as be-
ing all that is requisite not only to
keep up, but also to restore the fertility
OF the hardly used soil. This is myth,
and one science finds it very hard to
The theory is greatly
strengthened by personal observation,
for in many cases where this method
is fairly well carried out, the land be-
comes much more productive than it
was when crops were taken off contin-
uously, and although we are pleased
to admit this fact as far as it goes, vet
we may rest assured history will repeat
itself, rnd we have only to look up the
records of some of the older countries
to find that, with the most careful sys-
tenn of mixed farming, where nothing
is sold off but milk, butter and cheese,
as the case may be, along with some
beef, the soil gradually becomes de-
pleted of plant food, and although it
may take much longer time to accom-.
plish this end as compared with rails
ing and selling off crops direct, vet the
TACT remains the characterization il
just as surely and steadily going on.
As already stated, nothing new is be-
ing created. The manurial matter re-
turned to the soil by the stock had
been taken from it by the stock, and
hence every particle OF it not returned
is Just that much toward eventual ex-
haustion.
In a word, the farmer who uses
nothing but farm-yard manure pro-
duced on the farm from crops grown
on the farm, is all the time exhausting
his land.
Mr.. Braore holds that farming found
ed solely on the use of the manure
made on the farm alone is, economic
ally speaking, against common sense.
There is but one means by which the
soil can be permanently kept up
of a suitable character must
be drawn to it from a source bevond
the farm. Such draft may exhaust at
some other place, but the farmer de.
sirlng to keep up his soil has nothing
to do with that. Business is business
you know-get all you can, honestly
is the only lule that can lead to per
manent prosperity.